Animals

Jennifer Kho COSTA MESA -- Nacho Ayalo Campos and John Vurnis strolled through Centennial Farm on Christmas afternoon, listening to the caroling of the sheep, pigs, chickens and cows. They pet the animals, discussed the merits of the vegetable garden and sampled the feast of kumquats, cherries and other fruits growing at the farm. "It's beautiful here," Campos said. "It's nice. I like it." Campos and Vurnis, both of Costa Mesa, are two of a few residents who spent part of their Christmas at the farm at the Orange County Fairgrounds.

Fred was one of many stray pets who wander around in search of a kind heart and a bite to eat. Nobody knew exactly where he came from, but luckily for Fred he met Laguna Niguel resident Jane Cressall. She is the founder of Critters In Need Pet Rescue, and on Sunday she found a new home for the 18-month-old beagle after having him for two weeks. "For every dog who gets a home, another ends up in a shelter," said Critters In Need volunteer Lisa Tipton. "One of the biggest ways to help rescue is to foster a dog. No matter how many dogs we place, we can't fix the problem until we learn to spay and neuter our pets."

"Madagascar 3" continues the Dreamworks' franchise with a full dose of sensory overload. The lovable animal refugees from the New York Zoo are still looking for a way back home. Their wild journey takes many frenetic turns through Europe with dizzying animated effects. They join a low-brow traveling circus to escape a police pursuit. The ongoing hunt is eye popping and crazy enough to keep kids entertained most of the way. There's a fair amount of snappy inside jokes for the adults.

SUE DOYLE NEWPORT BEACH -- It was four years ago, when coyotes killed her two cats, that DiAnna Pfaff-Martin's passion to save other animals began. She fueled the sadness about her cats' deaths into founding the Community Animal Network, which finds loving homes for spayed and neutered animals. On weekends, the Newport Beach resident stands among cages of kittens outside Russo's Pets at Fashion Island, hoping to find good homes for them. About 70 felines and four dogs are waiting in line and sell for between $75 and $150.

Stray animals in Costa Mesa will be taken to the Orange County Humane Society shelter if the City Council votes to approve the recommendations in a staff report released Friday, but council opinions may be swayed by more than a dozen complaints the city has recently received about the Huntington Beach facility. Many of the complaints claim that the facility is too small to house the roughly 1,800 animals Costa Mesa animal control picks up each year, and that the animals are kept in poor conditions.

Alligators in the Laguna Lakes? Well, maybe not, although we did have a hippopotamus once. African clawed frogs, certainly. And while alligators have a certain thrill factor, the frogs have arguably had more impact on the local lake ecology. Laguna is no stranger to abandoned animals. The network of interior canyons and our surrounding open space attract a regular stream of people intent on liberating -- that is, dumping -- unwanted pets. Most seem to think that urban animals can just take up an independent lifestyle in the wild with no problems.

At my kid's recent preschool graduation, she climbed on a box, accepted a ribbon-wrapped diploma and fielded a hard question from her pre-K teacher: "What do you want to be when you grow up?" "Pet store owner," she replied. After the ceremony, I told her that it was OK with me if she owned a pet store, as long as it's Petco. She's 5 and, as usual, she had no idea what I was talking about. Good age, as they say. I want to support my kid's dreams. But I also want her to earn enough money to support me, just in case this newspaper thing goes the way of the newspaper.

The Orange County Fairgrounds, which crawled with farm animals last week during the Southern California wildfires, still had a menagerie of nearly three dozen Tuesday, but officials said they expected the grounds to empty by the weekend. Janie Walker, the supervisor of the animals and leader of a dedicated volunteer team, said the herd had dwindled from more than 100 animals last week to 35 Tuesday morning. In the days after the wildfires began, the fairgrounds, which served as an animal evacuation site, sheltered horses, cows, donkeys, goats, geese and others.

There was a snake in the auditorium Monday ? and a tarantula and a desert tortoise and a chinchilla, among several other critters. Bonnie McQuisten, who works for the Orange County Department of Education, held up a ball python longer than her arm and explained to about 20 youths how he can smell to the left and right with his tongue, swallow animals three times as large as his head, and slither out of a room at a moment?s notice. ?Ever been bit by a snake on the job?? one boy asked.

Baby goats haven't exactly made a name for themselves as household pets, but for a group of local students, the fluffy little kids are better than any of their friends' dogs or cats. Twelve students from Newport Beach, Costa Mesa and Huntington Beach have been raising dairy goats in Santa Ana Heights, an annexed area of Newport that allows residents to house farm animals as part of a 4H project. 4H is a national youth development organization that encourages students to complete a variety of projects, achieve goals with confidence and obtain skills that will help them become active citizens, said project leader and parent Gibran Stout.

Not all animals have the good fortune to have a home for a lifetime. That is why Community Animal Network promotes animals at the weekend pet adoption events at Fashion Island that are sponsored by Russo's Pet Experience. It is a challenging task to find new homes for adult animals, no matter how beautiful, because of the perception that they may have bad habits, or could have medical problems, or were unloved, or abused. Community Animal Network rescue phone lines indicate that very caring local families have to give up their beloved pets for some really sad reasons.

By Adolfo Flores and Ruben Vives and By Adolfo Flores and Ruben Vives | January 30, 2014

A Newport Beach grade school teacher who bred snakes as a hobby was arrested Wednesday on animal cruelty charges after authorities discovered more than 400 ball pythons - some alive, many dead - scattered throughout his cluttered home. Animal control officers said it took much of the day to search the five-bedroom home in a Santa Ana neighborhood where residents for months had complained about a foul smell drifting from the home. Investigators said they discovered 404 non-venomous snakes - 180 alive, 224 dead - inside rows of clear plastic containers with labels reading "pastel reaper," "cinny ghost" and "orange belly.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's inspector general will investigate a federal agency whose mission is to exterminate birds, coyotes, mountain lions and other animals that threaten the livelihoods of farmers and ranchers. The investigation of U.S. Wildlife Services is to determine, among other things, "whether wildlife damage management activities were justified and effective. " Biologists have questioned the agency's effectiveness, arguing that indiscriminately killing more than 3 million birds and other wild animals every year is often counterproductive.

As aid workers from around the world descended on the Philippines to help the people hardest hit by Typhoon Haiyan last month, Springer Browne headed toward the devastation for a different reason: the animals. The 31-year-old Newport Beach native made the trip as a volunteer for World Vets, a sort of veterinary equivalent of the humanitarian group Doctors Without Borders, which provides urgent medical care worldwide. World Vets sends veterinarians to work with animals around the world through various projects based on an area's needs.

Orange County may soon have a Megan's Law-style website for dangerous dogs. The website probably would list the addresses of homes where dogs deemed to be dangerous or vicious are being kept, along with a description of each animal and how it got into trouble in the first place. "We know where dangerous sex offenders are living in our community," county Supervisor Todd Spitzer said. "The public has the right to know where owners are harboring a dog declared vicious or dangerous.

By Emily Foxhall and This post has been corrected, as noted below. | October 9, 2013

One Newport Beach family knows quite well the drive to strike it rich that was common during the California Gold Rush. Sarajane Bartholomae, 67, and her four daughters - Kamme Hodge, 45, Korre Hartling, 43, Krista Hartling, 42, and Tori Hartling, 37 - traded five weeks of Southern California sunshine for five weeks of harsh Alaskan cold last fall to reopen the family's gold mines. Their adventure is the focus of "Alaska Gold Diggers," a six-episode series on Animal Planet premiering at 8 p.m. Thursday.

After spending a weekend recovering in Laguna Beach, a sea lion found with fishing line around his neck has returned to familiar territory at the entrance of Newport Harbor. The Pacific Marine Mammal Center at midday Monday released the sea lion, who has been named Officer Jon in memory of Laguna Beach motorcycle Police Officer Jon Coutchie . Last month, Coutchie died in a vehicle crash while on duty. The sea lion on Monday swam around the buoy where he was rescued, according to a video of his release . The pinniped had developed an infection from the fishing line, which had wrapped tightly around its neck.

Nearly four years ago, I adopted my dog, Maggie, from the Orange County animal shelter. Some people would say I rescued her from potential death, but like so many other adopted-pet owners, I know the truth: She rescued me. As a single woman, even one with a full and busy life, I felt lonely coming home to an empty home. But once Maggie moved in, it felt like my whole home lit up. Her tail-wagging and ecstatic greetings when I walk in the door are the physical embodiment of God's love and unequaled hospitality.

As Phyllis Palmer, 85, stepped into the National Cat Protection Society on Thursday afternoon, it was clear that she has a special place in her heart for animals. She walked up to a white kitten with blue eyes who was scurrying around one of the cages in the front of the shelter and instinctively placed her hand on the glass. "Aren't you cute," she said excitedly to the kitten, Blanca, who immediately approached Palmer and placed her paws on the opposite side of the glass. "I'd love to take you home.